President Joe Biden now finds himself thrust into a crisis likely to reshape his Middle East policy
Palestinians walk in an empty street as smoke rises nearby in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza StripUntil last weekend, the Biden administration was counting on the Middle East to remain relatively calm while it quietly pursued its main policy goals there: brokering Israeli-Saudi detente and containing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters he would not go so far as to say normalisation talks had been paused or were on the back burner but that Washington’s focus, for now, was on helping Israel defend itself. “That sort of neglect is part of why we’re seeing what we’re seeing,” said Elgindy, now at the Middle East Institute.
But Netanyahu, who has already resisted compromises with the Palestinians sought by both Washington and Riyadh, will be loath to make concessions, given the rising death toll and the hostage crisis he faces.
“Saudi is not close to Hamas, but they cannot ignore how Israel blockaded Gaza for years and what they have been doing in the West Bank,” the source told Reuters.y contrast, the United Arab Emirates, which along with Gulf neighbor Bahrain recognised Israel in 2020 under a deal brokered by the Trump administration called the Abraham Accords, labeled the Hamas attack a “grave escalation.”
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